Stalk-splitting machine for whips



T. W. REED. STALK SPLITTING MACHINE FOR WHIPS. No. 495.430 Patented Apr.11, 1893.

JYg-J- a if I l IA V m li fi iww Y w w- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS W. REED, OF OSBORN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF 'IO GEORGE E.WHIPPLE, OF WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

STALK-SPLITTING MACHINE FOR WHIPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 495,430, dated April11, 1893.

Application filed March 30, 1892.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS WV. REED, of Osborn, in the county of Greeneand State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement inStalk-Splitting Machines for Whips, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart thereof.

In Letters Patent No. 454,497, dated J one 23, 1891, I have shown anddescribed a ma chine for splitting the stalks of rattan from whichwhip-centers are formed, said machine comprising a stationary knife, aseries of guiding rolls having their peripheries serrated for directingthe stalk to said knife, a portion of said series of rolls also havingtheir peripheries concaved transversely to hold the stalk againstrotation about its axis, and a cam-actuated guide for graduallyimparting a lateral movement to that portion of the stalk immediately infront of the knife, whereby the knife is caused to split the stalk in aline extending diagonally from end to end of the latter. While the saidmachineoperates very successfully to secure the desired result, and andis so far as I am aware the first machine ever devised whereby a stalkof rattan can be successfully split into corresponding halves, with theline of division at an angle to the longitudinal center of the stalk, Ihave found that I can secure even better results by employing inconnection with the peculiarly constructed feed-rolls for rigidlyholding the stalk against rotation about its axis while imparting arapid longitudinal movement thereto, a laterally movable knife, andmeans for accurately holding and moving said knife whereby the angle ofthe line of division between the halves of the stalk can be accuratelypredetermined.

My present invention consists, therefore, in the stalk-splitting machineembodying this feature, constructed and operating as hereinafter fullydescribed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters designate like parts inthe several views, Figure l is a plan view of the machine, with aportion of the vertical standard broken away in the plane of theknife-operating de- Serial No. 427,072. (No model.)

vices. Fig. 2'is a side elevation of the knife and of the stalk-presser.vFig. 3 is a partial cross-section of the machine, taken upon line 33 ofFig. 1. Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken upon line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig.5is a cross-soc tion of one of the pairs of feed-rolls. Fig. 6 is asimilar view showing a slightly modified form of roll. Fig. 7 shows twoof the pairs of feed-rolls.

The letter a designates the horizontal bed of the machine, which bedterminates at its front side in the vertical standard I) extending fromend to end thereof, and suitably secured to said bed,in front of thestandard b, is the table 0 upon which the stalk rests in its passagethrough the machine, the peripheries of the lower rolls of the series ofpairs of feedrolls projecting through slotsin said table, as in themachine shown in my said previous Letters Patent.

The letter (Z designates the knife-carrier which consists of a bar,resting upon the bed a and projecting through an opening in standard b,and terminating at its front end in the forked arms (1, to the ends ofwhich arms the knife 6 is secured at both ends. A loop (1- embracing therear end of said bar and a bolt 01 passing through the slot (1 thereininto the bed and having a T-shaped head bearing against the upper sideof the bar, serve to guide the latter in such manner as to render itcapable of alimited longitudinal movement upon the bed, in a plane at aright-angle to the path of movement of the stalk through the machine. l

A shaft f supported in suitable bearings at the end of the machinecarries a Wheel f to the side of which is adj ustably secured a camringf or other form of face cam, said shaft also carrying a suitableband-pulley (not shown) or other means whereby motion can be transmittedthereto from a moving part of the machine. A lever g, pivoted at g tothe bed, bears at one end against the rear end of the knife-carrier dand at its opposite end engages the cam f preferably through themediumof an anti friction roll 9 as shown, whereby revolution of shaft f will,through said cam, impart a swinging movement to said lever and, throughthe latter, longitudinal movement to the knife-carrier in one direction,a spring 01 located within the slot d of said carrier and bearing at oneend against the latter and at its opposite end against the bolt dserving to move said carrier in the opposite direction and to keep theend of lever g in constant engagement with the cam f A guide-block hisadjustably secured upon the table a, at a point opposite the knife e,screw-bolts h and check-screws 72 serving to adjust said block towardand away from the knife and to rigidly secure it in its adjustedposition. The acting face of said guide-block is by preference slightlybeveled as represented in Fig. 1, for a purpose which will be mentionedpresently.

A spring-actuated guide-block Zc rests upon the bed in such manner as tobe capable of a limited movement through the opening in standard I) andin a plane parallel with that of the movement of the knifecarrier. Saidblock 7.; is recessed at its rear side to adapt it to embrace theknife-carrier, and is provided with notches or recesses 70 in itsopposite sides to receive the ball-shaped ends of the arms m m of aforked bar m, which bar is supported upon a bolt 77. projecting from thestandard b in such manner as to be capable of alimited rocking movementupon said bolt. As herein shown, see Fig. 3, said bar is held upon saidbolt n by means of check-nuts .02 upon the latter, bearing against oneside of the bar, and an interposed coil spring 12 bearing against theopposite side of the latter, but the particular means thus shown for thepurpose are'not essential,so long as the barhas a rocking hearing at itsupper end upon asuitable support. A screw-bolt 0 passing throughstandard I) is bored to receive a rod 0, which rod, passing through saidbolt and the bar m, carries at its rear end the check-nuts 0 and aspring 0 surrounding said rod and hearing at one end against said nutsand at its opposite end against the rear side of bar m, serves to presssaid bar and the guide-block it toward the stationary guide-block h, thescrewbolt Q serving to limit the forward movement of said parts and thenuts 0 serving to regulate the tension of said spring. The series ofpairs of feed-rolls 19,19, 29 ,19 are preferably of the form shown anddescribed in my previous patent, that is to say, the upper roll of eachof said pairs and both rolls of the pairs 19 have serrated peripheries,with the serrations extending horizontally across said peripheries,while the lower rolls of the pairs 19 19 have their peripheriescircumferentially serrated and also concaved transversely, whereby theyare caused to engage the stalk in such manner as to securely hold itagainst rotation about its longitudinal axis while passing through themachine, as clearly set forth in said patent.

I have shown in Fig. 1 only the lower rolls of the several pairs, asbeing all that is necessary to be shown for a clear understanding of thepresent invention when considered in connection with the machine shownin my aforesaid prior patent. Of the final pair of rolls, designated byp, which I will term the delivery rolls, the lowermost roll has itsperiphery provided with an annular rib 8,10- cated midway between thetwo edges thereof, and is provided with serrations upon each side ofsaid rib, the peripheral surface being concaved transversely upon eachside of the rib as shown in Fig. 5, or made horizontal as shown in Fig.6, as may be desired. Said rib 3 serves to separate the two divisions ofthe stalk, made by the knife, and to deliver them at the end of themachine in two separate piles, the pieces composing thetwo piles havingtheir butts and tips turned in opposlte d1- rections.

The stalk to be split, represented by broken lines at t in Fig. 3, isfed to the knife by inserting the end thereof between the first pair offeed-rolls 13 a rapid revolving movement being imparted to the rolls ofeach of the pairs by any suitable driving gear, as stated in my priorpatent. The stalk is thus earned at a high speed to and past the knife,the latter entering the end thereof at one side of the axial center and,by reason of the lateral movement imparted to the knife by its carriercl through the action of lever g and cam f it is caused to split thestalk in a diagonal line, terminating at the rear end of the latter uponthe opposite side of said axial center. In I addition to the guiding andholding action of the feed-rolls, the stalk is pressed laterally againstthe rigid guide-block h by the springactuated guide-block 7.0, at thepoint at which the knife is located, in such manner that any deflectionof the stalk from a right line is rendered impossible. I am thus enabledto divide each stalk into two exactly corresponding halves, with evengreater accuracy than has heretofore been done by hand labor, and withgreat rapidity, the corresponding halves of successive stalks beingdelivered at the end of the machine in two separate piles, as beforedescribed. The ad ustability of the guide-block h in connection with theyielding pressure of the block 7r,provides for accurate operation of theknife upon different sizes of stalks, and the adjustability of the cam fenables the angle of the line of separation of the stalk to bepredetermined with entire accuracy. It will be noted thatwith both mypresent machine and that previously patented the stalk is separatedwithout loss of material, as is the case when a saw is employed, and theoperation is performed much more rapidly than could be done with a saw.It will be observed also that the stalk-splitting machines devised by meare quite distinct in their action from machines which merely shave aportion from the surface of the stalk to lessen its size, such forexample as the Moore machine referred to in my previous patent, theshaving removed by such machines being necessarily thrown away as waste,whereas my machines avoid all waste and perform the same operation uponthe stalk that, prior to the date of my previous invention, had beenperformed by hand labor.

Both my present machine and that previously patented are adapted to formindependent machines, as herein described, or to be applied as anattachment to such machines as the Moore machine as set forth in myprevious patent, but I prefer to construct them as independent machines.

The details of construction of the machine herein shown and describedcan be modified in various ways without departure from the spirit of myinvention.

By slightly beveling the acting face of guide-block h, longitudinally ofsaid face, as described, provision is made for the slight separation ofthe two divisions of the stalk by the knife without impairing theholding action of the two guide-blocks upon the stalk.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a stalk-splitting machine, the combination with a movableknife-carrier and a vertically disposed splitting knife carried thereby,of a series of pairs of feed-rolls for carrying the stalk past saidknife in a'plane at a right-angle to the plane of movement of thelatter, and means for holding the stalk against lateral deflection,substantially as set forth.

2. In a stalk-splitting machine, the combination with a verticallydisposed splitting knife and means for imparting lateral movementthereto, of a series of feed-rolls for carrying the stalk to and beyondsaid knife, a stationary guide adjustably secured at one side of theknife for affording lateral support to the stalk, and a spring-actuatedguide lo cated upon the opposite side of the knife and adapted to pressthe stalk against said stationary guide, substantially as and for thepurpose described. 7

3. In a stalk-splitting machine, the combination with-a series offeed-rolls adapted to impart longitudinal movement to a stalk, of asliding knife -carrier having its path of movement intersecting that ofthe stalk at a right-angle, a vertically disposed knife secured to saidcarrier, a cam-shaft carrying a cam, intermediate connections betweensaid cam and the knife-carrier whereby the latter is moved in onedirection by the former, and a spring for moving said carrier in theopposite direction, arranged and operating substantially as set forth.

4. In a stalk-splitting machine, the combination with the upright knifeand means for imparting lateral movement thereto, of the series ofserrated feed-rolls for imparting longitudinalmovement to the stalk,aportion of said rolls having their peripheries concaved transversely,substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In a stalk-splitting machine, the combination with the laterallymovable knife, serrated feed-rolls, and guides for preventing lateraldeflection of the stalk, of a pair of delivery rolls located in rear ofthe knife, one of said rolls being provided with a centrally disposedannular rib as described, and having its periphery serrated upon eachside of said rib, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. In a stalk-splitting machine, the combination with feeding mechanismfor passing a stalk longitudinally through the machine, of aknife-carrier movable in a plane at a rightangle to that of the movementof the stalk, said carrier terminating at its front end in two forkedarms, a knife secured at each end to one of the arms of said carrier,and means substantially as described for imparting movement to saidcarrier, arranged and operating substantially as set forth.

7. In a stalk-splitting machine, the combination with theadjustable-guideblock h, the forked knife-carrier, and the knife carriedthereby, of the recessed guide-block is working within the fork of saidknife-carrier, bar m suspended from a suitable supportand having itsarms m in operative engagement with said block k, and a springoperatively engaging said bar in such manner as to press the lower endof the latter and the block toward the block h, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a stalk-splitting machine, the combination with the cam-actuatedknife-carrier and knife carried thereby, of the pairs of feed-rolls 1010 having their peripheries transversely serrated, and the pairs offeed-rolls p 10 having their peripheries circumferentially serrated andconcaved transversely, substantially as and for the purpose described.

THOMAS W. REED.

Witnesses:

D. M. MoCoNNELL, W. H. HEBBLE.

